Uncle Cluny's Kite Over Wesleyville | 1989 | Etching 68 of 75

About the Artwork

Uncle Cluny's Kite over Wesleyville (1989) 15 × 35½ inches) is an etching and aquatint with selective hand-colouring by David Blackwood (1941–2022), presenting the entire village of Wesleyville in a single cinematic panorama. The composition sweeps across dozens of saltbox houses, picket fences, wharves, and the dark waters of the harbour, all seen from an elevated vantage point on the hillside. Scattered throughout the snow-covered streets, tiny figures walk with their dogs, stand in doorways, or go about their winter routines. In the upper left, a large box kite—hand-coloured in red-salmon tones—floats above the harbour, its white structural frame clear against the dramatic sky. Storm clouds sweep across the upper register, coloured in warm coral-pink and grey, with a red-pink glow breaking through on the right horizon. The kite hovers like a guardian spirit above the community, suspended between earth and sky, memory and present moment.

In Wesleyville culture, "Uncle" was an honorific title given to all male elders, regardless of blood relationship. As William Gough explains: "Older men were called 'Uncle,' no matter what the blood relationship, and older women were all called 'Aunt.' It didn't matter how bloodlines flowed: the world flowed everyone into the same ocean, where they were all related. Every person in a town was seen as being responsible for every other person."¹ This means Uncle Cluny may not have been a blood relative at all—simply a respected elder in the community, one of the men who made kites or flew them with the children. The name itself is unusual; it may have been a nickname. Kite-flying in Wesleyville was more than recreation—it was craft, community ritual, and training for reading wind before boys went to the ice as sealers.

The panoramic format itself is exceptional in Blackwood's oeuvre. Where most of his prints are vertical or square, this composition stretches horizontally across 35½ inches, creating what the artist called a "cinematic sweep" across the entire village. It is not a portrait of one house, one family, one event—it is a portrait of the whole place, with every roof and doorway part of the interconnected organism of Wesleyville life. The selective hand-colouring heightens emotional resonance: the warm red-pink kite and glowing sky create the warmth of memory against the cool grey-black aquatint used for the architecture, water, and snow. The composition captures not a single moment but the cumulative experience of living in this place—the dailiness of walking these roads, seeing the harbour, watching the sky, feeling oneself part of something larger than individual life.

Dimensions and Details

• Title: Uncle Cluny's Kite over Wesleyville
• Artist: David Blackwood, RCA (1941–2022)
• Year: 1989
• Size: 15" × 35½" (38.1 × 90.2 cm)
• Medium: Etching and aquatint with selective hand-colouring on paper
• Edition: 35/75
• Condition: Pristine. This impression has never been displayed and remains in museum-quality condition. Stored in archival darkness since creation, the hand-coloured salmon-red kite and coral-pink sky retain extraordinary vibrancy, the aquatint tonal gradations remain complete across the complex panoramic composition, and the paper is bright white with no fading. The delicate hand-colouring shows no bleed or degradation. This is a museum-grade example of one of Blackwood's rarest format experiments. Professionally framed; signed, titled, numbered, and dated by the artist.

Acquisition Enquiries

Uncle Cluny's Kite over Wesleyville is offered exclusively through West End Gallery. Serious acquisition enquiries are welcome. We invite you to contact us directly to arrange a private viewing. Layaway options are available upon request. Shipping is quoted based on location; local delivery within Edmonton and surrounding communities is complimentary.